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Assessment of dietary exposure to organohalogen contaminants, legacy and emerging flame retardants in a Norwegian cohort
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5235-6637
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Number of Authors: 92017 (English)In: Environment International, ISSN 0160-4120, E-ISSN 1873-6750, Vol. 102, p. 236-243Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), emerging halogenated flame retardants (EHFRs) and organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) were detected in 24 h duplicate diet samples from a Norwegian cohort (n = 61), with concentrations ranging from <method limit of quantification (MLQ)-0.64 ng/g ww, <MLQ-0.70 ng/g ww, <MLQ-0.93 ng/g ww, <MLQ-0.14 ng/g ww, and <MLQ-150 ng/g ww, respectively. All studied contaminants were detected in the duplicate diet samples with detection frequencies (DF) ranging from 1.6 to 98%. The major contaminants were CB153 (median 0.042 ng/g ww), alpha-HCH (median 0.22 ng/g ww), BDE209 (median 0.45 ng/g ww), ethyl hexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP) (median 3.0 ng/g ww) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromo-phthalate (BEH-TEBP) (< MLQ-0.14 ng/g ww). Human dietary exposure assessment was conducted for each participant based on individual body weight and contaminant concentrations in their collected duplicate diet samples. The estimated median (95th percentile) dietary exposures for Sigma PFR, Sigma PCB, Sigma OCP, Sigma PBDE, and Sigma EHFR were 87 (340), 5.8 (27),11 (31), 1.3 (14), and <0.01 (3.4) ng/kg bw/day, respectively. The median and 95th percentile dietary exposures of most of the target analytes did not exceed the reference dose (RID), except for PCBs where 16% of the participants exceeded the RID. However, a relatively short period of such high intake is not expected to result in any adverse health effects. Participants of this cohort were exposed to higher levels of EHDPHP than any other FRs. Fish was the major dietary route for PCB, OCP and PBDE exposure, while meat was the main dietary exposure route for PFRs.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2017. Vol. 102, p. 236-243
Keywords [en]
Organohalogen contaminants, Flame retardants, Duplicate diet samples, Dietary exposure, EHDPHP
National Category
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Applied Environmental Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-143394DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2017.03.009ISI: 000400202400027PubMedID: 28335995OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-143394DiVA, id: diva2:1104173
Available from: 2017-05-31 Created: 2017-05-31 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. What contributes to human body burdens of halogenated flame retardants?: An experimental approach
Open this publication in new window or tab >>What contributes to human body burdens of halogenated flame retardants?: An experimental approach
2018 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Flame retardants (FRs) are chemicals added to a broad range of consumer products such as textiles, electrical and electronic equipment, furniture and building material to meet flammability requirements. Most of these chemicals are additives that can continuously leach out from the applied products during usage. FRs are studied because of their abundance in indoor environments and concerns about their impact on human health. The restrictions on many brominated FRs have resulted in a need for their replacement with a variety of emerging halogenated FRs (EHFRs). Humans are exposed to these chemicals mainly through dust and diet ingestion, but there is still insufficient data about the relative importance of other exposure pathways. In this thesis, a Norwegian cohort of 61 adults (age 20-66, 16 males and 45 females) was studied for their exposure to legacy and emerging HFRs. Duplicate diet, stationary air, personal air, settled dust, hand wipe and serum samples were collected from the participants and analyzed for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) and EHFRs. External exposures via dietary intake, air inhalation, dust ingestion and dermal exposure (in pg/kg body weight/day) were estimated from the measured concentrations. The intake values were then compared to elucidate which of these exposure pathways were most important for the Norwegian cohorts’ exposure to specific HFRs. Dietary intake was the predominant exposure route for most of the PBDE congeners and EHFRs, whereas dust ingestion contributed significantly to the exposure of some less volatile HFRs. Inhalation exposure was negligible for most of the target HFRs except for those with higher volatility, such as tetrabromoethylcyclohexane (DBE-DBCH), 2-bromoallyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (BATE) and 1,2,3,4,5-pentabromobenzene (PBBz). Dermal exposure seems to be a significant exposure pathway for HBCDDs and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) but the relevance of hand wipes to represent total dermal exposure remains uncertain. Overall, the median and 95th percentile total intakes for all target HFRs did not exceed the regulatory reference doses (RfD). Estimated serum concentrations were calculated from total intakes from all exposure pathways using a one compartment pharmacokinetic model and these were compared to measured concentrations. The estimated median serum BDE-47 and BDE-153 concentrations were slightly over-estimated by a factor of 5.5 and 4.3, respectively whereas BDE-197 and -209 were under-estimated by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared to the measured concentrations. Statistical analysis suggested that age, number of electronic equipment at home, certain dietary habits, hand washing and house cleaning frequency were possible contributors to HFR exposure.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, 2018. p. 33
Keywords
halogenated flame retardants, air, dust, hand wipes, duplicate diet, serum, human exposure
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Applied Environmental Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-155572 (URN)978-91-7797-177-1 (ISBN)978-91-7797-178-8 (ISBN)
Public defence
2018-06-15, De Geersalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 14, Stockholm, 09:30 (English)
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Supervisors
Note

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.

Available from: 2018-05-23 Created: 2018-04-25 Last updated: 2022-02-26Bibliographically approved

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Tay, Joo-HuiSellström, Ullade Wit, Cynthia A.

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